What grabbed my attention,
for starters, was the hull color—“seafoam green,” Rybovich
calls it. Thanks to the unique sense of tropicality it conveys, I had
no trouble spotting Jimmy Buffett’s new 42-foot Express Walkaround
from the dockmaster’s office at the Galleon Marina in Key West. With
further study, I could see a host of classic details as well, even from
afar. While I was aware that the hull and superstructure had been fabricated
in vinylester-infused, Core-Cell foam-cored fiberglass by New Orleans-based
and military-patrolboat builder United States Marine (not to be confused
with U.S. Marine, the Brunswick entity), the appearance of the craft still
borrowed much from Rybovich’s long wooden-boatbuilding heritage.

Flawlessly finished
teak toerails stretched from the bow back along a lovely, broken sheerline.
Teak caprails, also flawlessly finished, surmounted exquisitely thin wingwalls
on either side of the steering station. And just above the waterline,
in the vicinity of the break of the bow, I noted the faint beginnings
of a long, retro-looking chine log, a slight, down-angled widening along
the edges of the bottom commonly used on wooden planing vessels—Rybovich
sportfishermen included—to flatten and reduce spray.

I let go a soft, appreciative
whistle, then hustled down the dock. Time was of the essence. Although
presently tied up working on a new album in a nearby recording studio,
Buffett was antsy to play with his new toy. So four hours—maybe five—was
all the time he was gonna let somebody else use her—especially with
sea conditions being so sweet, at least inside the reef. From where I
stood, it looked just about flat-calm all the way north to Garrison Bight
Channel, although seas to the south, out toward the Florida Straits, looked
six-foot or better.

When I got to the boat,
there were two guys aboard: Buffett’s captain, Tyler Andresen, and
a local fishing guide, Scott Irvine. After we’d hefted my test gear
into the Burmese-teak-planked cockpit, exchanging pleasantries in the
process, I suggested we hit the trail for the high seas as soon as possible.

Andreson eased the 42
out of her slip. I passed on maneuvering the boat myself, hewing to the
belief that it’s never a good idea to dock or undock a million-dollar
vessel in the absence of the owner. Once the big, varnished-teak transom
was clear of the protruding fingerpiers, I took over and immediately began
waving magnanimously at folks in the marina while tooling along, humming
Buffett’s “Margaritaville.” The tune was totally appropriate,
of course. It was why Buffett was calling the boat Margaritavich, thereby
blending the consultative role he’d played in developing the prototype
for a new line of production-type Rybovich 42s with the talents he’s
demonstrated over the years for writing popular, boat-friendly music.

The steering was ball-bearing
smooth. But then, what else would you expect from a system that combines
Teleflex SeaStar hydraulics with a couple of SeaStar power-assist units,
one on each engine, as well as an elegant Rybovich custom wheel? Idle-speed
visibility was 360-degree superb, too, whether I was standing at the helm
or sitting in the doublewide Stidd. Instrumentation and electronics were
simply and understandably laid out as well: Cummins multigauges flanked
a Simrad AP22 autopilot and a Simrad IS12 Combi depth/speed readout on
a lower tier, while above, a Simrad CR44 fishfinder/plotter and a Northstar
6000i radar/plotter rotated hydraulically up out of the steering console,
pop-up style.